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Ginger Snaps (2000) Our Score: 8/10
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Summary:
Decent but not a masterpiece |
I went into this film expecting a B-movie about social outcasts, putting themselves in unoriginal and macabre situations.. but what I got was anything but, and a whole lot more.
Made on a meager budget, Ginger Snaps relies on acting to win it's credibility. Although Isabelle is the "Ginger" of the title and she is damned good, it is Perkins as Brigitte that earns respect for her effort.
The Fitzgerald sisters with their fascination for 'staged horror' find themselves very much on the social fringe. It is not until Ginger is bitten by a werewolf, in what is undoubtedly the most graphic and realistic lycanthropic savaging ever filmed since An American Werewolf in London (1981), that they are forced even further into social isolation. What neither the sisters or the film ever lose sight of however is their sisterly bond, itself consummated by a blood-pact at the age of eight.
The heartfelt tragedy of Ginger's condition is poignant and evolving, and that is why this film leaves most other horror films in its wake - it is multi-dimensional with strong characterizations. Mimi Rogers even, in a smallish part as the girls' mother is spot on hitting the exact right note as a frustrated mother and increasingly unfulfilled wife, although her character seems to entropy quickly into a incohesive mess as the story progresses.
The film weaves brilliantly the coming-of-age pains with the physical transformation brought on by the lycanthropic condition. Marvelous imagery of menstrual blood at critical moments.
The film does have some massive plot holes, that simply cannot be ignored... from the mother who all of a sudden wants to cover up the whole thing, her character truly made no sense and lacked any sense of cohesion, the father character was about as nonexistent with being there as a writer could muster. [Spoilers]::: Why for one doesn't the sister go back for more antidote earlier on, for herself so she can be able to help her sister more efficiently? The dialog is pretty awful, and it wasn't a really fun movie, which left it wanting.
Quotes from the movie:
Brigitte: "Ginger, what's wrong... something is going on, like more then you just being.. .female.."
Ginger: "I get this ache, and I thought it was for sex, but it was to tear everything into pieces."
Definitely a better movie then the recognition it was given, but not a masterpiece either.
